BallInMichigan: Michigan small college basketball weekly power rankings

January 14, 2013

By Patrick Hayes

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Patrick Hayes is the publisher of ballinmichigan.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Hayes will contribute a column every Monday at freep.com. Contact Patrick anytime at patrickhayes13@gmail.com or on Twitter @ballinmichigan.

BallinMichigan’s weekly look at the top four JUCO, NAIA, Division III and Division II college teams in Michigan.

Last week’s ranking in parentheses.

JUCO

1. Mott Community College (1): The Bears, ranked No. 3 in the country, extended their winning streak to nine games with wins over Macomb and Wayne County last week. Mott’s average margin of victory in that streak is 20.1 points per game. Sophomore Kory Billups had his best career game against Macomb, posting a triple double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.

2. Glen Oaks Community College (2): Glen Oaks, ranked No. 6 nationally, improved to 15-1 last week and has the state’s longest winning streak at 13 games. Among the team’s wins last week was an 18-point win over No. 19 Grand Rapids. Will Powell continues to be one of the state’s top players, averaging 20.4 points per game. He also shoots 50 percent from the field and makes 42 percent of his 3-pointers.

3. Oakland Community College (3): OCC has won 10 straight games. The team has two big tests on the road this week -- at Henry Ford (9-5) on Jan. 16 and at Mott (14-1) Jan. 19. Aaron Hayes continues to be one of the state’s most interesting players -- he’s really struggling shooting the ball, making just 27 percent of his shots for the season. But he’s also averaging 15 points per game because he’s impossible to keep off the free throw line, averaging 8.8 attempts per game and making 85 percent of them.

4. Lansing Community College (NR): After an up and down start to the season, the Stars have put things together over the last few weeks and have moved up to second place in the Western Conference standings. Lansing has won three straight games, including a 24-point performance by Eron Jackson in a win over Muskegon on Jan. 7.

Dropped out from last week: Kalamazoo Valley.

NAIA

1. Rochester College (1): The Warriors moved up nine spots in the national poll this week, from No. 22 to No. 13, after improving to 18-3 on the season. The key for Rochester this season has been balance -- not only do the Warriors have a deep roster, they have a roster full of players who excel both offensively and defensively. Rochester leads all NAIA Division II team in steals and field goal percentage defense and the team is second in points scored.

2. Madonna University (3): The Crusaders, ranked No. 24 in the country, continue their torrid play and have moved into first place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) with a 9-2 conference record. Madonna’s next big test will be at Indiana Tech on Jan. 16.

3. Davenport University (2): Davenport, ranked No. 8 in the country, is just one game out of first place in the WHAC standings. Two losses in 2013, to Aquinas and Concordia, have dropped the Panthers out of first place, but the team still has one of the conference’s top players in Javontae Ford and one of the league’s top freshmen in Dominez Burnett.

4. Concordia University (4): Concordia solidified itself as a WHAC contender with a win over Davenport to improve to 8-4 in the conference last week. The Cardinals have now beat both of the league’s top teams -- Madonna and Davenport -- this season and are just two games out of first place. John Schaeffer leads the team, averaging 15.2 points per game while hitting 43 percent of his 3-pointers.

Divison III

1. Calvin College (1): For the second straight week, a Calvin player was recognized as MIAA player of the week. Last week, it was Jordan Brink. This week, it was Tom Snikkers, who averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game in two wins last week that helped Calvin improve to 4-0 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) to start the season.

2. Hope College (4): Hope continues its impressive turnaround, pushing its winning streak to four games since the MIAA season started. Hope had two wins this week, including an impressive 30-point win over Adrian, who had previously been ranked as high as No. 7 nationally.

3. Adrian College (1): Adrian, a favorite to win the MIAA early on, has continued to stumble in conference play. Adrian’s loss to Hope last week dropped the Bulldogs to 1-3 in MIAA play, three games behind conference leaders Hope and Calvin. The Bulldogs did, however, hand Trine its first loss of the season last week, proving they are still going to be a tough team to beat the rest of the season.

4. Olivet College (NR): The Comets, much-improved from last season, are now 2-2 in conference play. The team got a big win over Adrian Saturday on a 3-pointer by Dakotah Ellis with six seconds left.

Dropped out from last week: Kalamazoo College.

Divison II

1. Wayne State (1): At 9-0 in GLIAC play, Wayne State is off to its best conference start in school history. The Warriors are getting great production from several players. Mike Hollingsworth (twice) and Chene Phillips have each won GLIAC player of the week awards and on Saturday, Ian Larkin scored a career-high 25 points in a win over Saginaw Valley State.

2. Grand Valley State (2): Grand Valley took over second place in the GLIAC standings with a 70-65 win over Michigan Tech Saturday, led by Breland Hogan, who scored 16 points. The Lakers are not a high scoring team, typically winning with stout defense, but they were able to score with the Huskies and pick up a win despite Michigan Tech shooting 52 percent.

3. Michigan Tech (2): The Huskies have a great player in Ali Haidar, who had 25 points against GVSU, and Ben Stelzer scored 21 points. But whereas Grand Valley used solid depth -- eight players played at least 15 minutes and only one player played more than 30 minutes Saturday -- Michigan Tech had three players go 37 or more minutes and and only five players played more than 15 minutes.

4. Ferris State (NR): The Bulldogs enter the rankings after completing a 4-0 homestand over the last two weeks to pull into a tie with Michigan Tech for third place in the GLIAC North standings. Leading scorer Kenny Brown has picked up his game even more in conference play, averaging 17.9 points per game in GLIAC games vs. 16.5 points per game in non-league games.